new recruit
by sayaka nakamura
Summary: after the battle of pieta. the orginazation has fallen and yoma rule the world. well really isley and pricilla. humans are treated like cattle and 'towns' are little more than storage. one day a 'town' has an unexpected visitor... T-M for strong language
1. Chapter 1: the eyes

" …"- speaking

" …"- speaking

'…'- thoughts

**bold**- monster speaking

The Eyes

I saw them. I know I did. Shining silver in the moonlight. Everyone says it was just a dream, but I know they're out there. Waiting.

"Hey, Teresa! Get over here! You have to see this!" ' Huh?! Was it one of them?! Out here?!' I shot across the clearing to see what my friend, Kyoko, had seen. To find her laughing. "MO! You really are crazy! I don't know how you could think that there's any of those old warriors left." She wiped a tear from her eye, "maybe Akiko was right about you after all, you nutcase."

"You! You don't have to be so mean! I thought you were my friend, but really you're just like everyone else!" I yelled in Kyoko's face. I knew she didn't believe my stories, no one did, but she had never made fun of them before! Close to tears at the thought of losing my last friend, I ran off back into the woods.

'I guess they all have a point. After all, none of them have been seen in years. Seven of them to be exact. They were all supposedly wiped out when the yoma attacked in what's now called "The Final War". Without anyone left to fight them, the yoma have slowly taken over the whole world. The only reason us humans are allowed to live, even if it is one these stupid reserves, is so the yoma can have food without eating each other to extinction. So of course no one believed that there might be some of what we call Claymores out there. Even if there were, there wouldn't be enough to free the world.' Struck by a sudden, totally taboo thought, I started. 'unless they had others. People willing to join them. People brave enough to ASK to become a claymore, a warrior.' Closing my eyes, I sighed in resignation. 'That could only happen if there was a way to get out of here. Then there's always tracking down the survivors, they'd be sure to hide themselves well, and I'd have to avoid the yoma. If a human was found outside, they'd be slaughtered. I wouldn't even have a chance to scream.' An involuntary shudder came at the thought of being torn open, and having my guts sucked out while I was still alive. Butchered just like an animal, only the animal would be the one doing the butchering. "ha!" a dry laugh escaped my small mouth, it was impossible, but even risking a death out there is better than waiting for the one that's going to come if I stay here. By now I had wondered to the edge of the compound for the families. Right out side the fence, and the yoma guards, was freedom. It was so close I could taste it. I finally know how a bird in a cage must feel; the sky so close, and yet so far. It was the worst possible torture.

Finally averting my eyes from the brilliantly blue sky, I noticed a strange thing. There was no guard standing at the watch post, about 50m away. That was rare, ever since Isley and Pricillia took over; the yoma had worked like a highly trained army. It was no wonder the organization fell. I quickly darted behind a tree at the sight of movement out side the fence. It was probably a patrol, if they saw me; I'd definitely be in for it. Us humans aren't supposed to have explored this far out. We were miles from the town where I lived. A flash of metal in the sun caught my attention, and I tentatively poked my head out to see what it was, yoma almost never wore armor or weapons. The figure froze, as if waiting for something. Then they turned and leaped over the 25m fence, landing with barely a rustle in the tree tops. 'Definitely NOT a yoma' I thought. 'No way they'd lower themselves to human company, unless they were in some kind of trouble with Isley, but that was even rarer than a human escaping.' I heard a slight noise coming from above me; it had to be that person! 'Were they coming down?' a light thud, and a figure dressed all in black, complete with leather armor, boots, and a cape. But beneath that cape was, 'yes' I silently shouted in victory, it was a sword, a claymore sword. I had found a warrior!

I let a smile come to my face, almost without thinking, and immediately the warriors hand shot over her shoulder to her sword hilt. "Oh!" I exclaimed, realizing my mistake, "Please stay!" she gave me a weird look and turned to leave. "NO! Wait! I-I want to go with you!"

That got her attention, at least she stopped. "And why would a human want to leave their home and life behind to follow what should be a fable, and could be a yoma looking for traitors?" she said coldly, not even turning to look at me.

"Because! If I was a traitor, I'd die here, and I'm going to be killed anyway, so I'll take that chance! I just want to be free! Even if it means becoming a warrior like you, I don't care."

"Then why not turn me in now, you'd be rewarded."

"No, I wouldn't. Besides, it's always been my dream to meet one of you. My father told such stories of you guys. Did you know he used to travel with a warrior? Just before the big war started." By now I was so excited I couldn't help but smile. It was all just like he said! They really were still alive! A look of shock came onto the warrior's face, the first emotion she had shown.

"What is your father's name?" for some reason, I sensed desperation behind her words, as if there was far more to the story than she'd ever let on. Taking pity on her, I answered truthfully. "His name is – no, was – Raki. He was killed last year." The sudden flood of emotion my simple words brought to that beautiful face was shocking. I had always thought warriors to be cold hearted people, well except for one, of course. "Are you- are you really Clare? The warrior my dad knew? Really? Oh! That must mean,…" my words trailed off. Taking a deep breath, Clare looked down at me. "May I ask your name?"

"I'm Teresa. Nice to meet you." I bowed.

"So the legacy continues. But I wonder…"

"What? Did you say something?"

"No, Nothing. So, are you sure you want to come? We'd have to go now. I can't afford to stay here much longer, and neither can you. They're bound to notice something."

Thinking it was pointless to argue, I nodded, "I'm coming with you."

"Here," she gestured for me to come closer, "You need to hold on tight. We're going to be going full speed. I'm supposed to be back by midnight." Understanding her meaning, I stepped forward and locked my arms around her. There was a pause, then she leaped impossibly high, sailed out over the fence, and into the wild. I was free.

please review! The more reviews I get the faster I'll put the next chapter up!


	2. Chapter 2: the journey

The Journey

The Journey

The landscape was a blur as we flew though the countryside, purposely avoiding any contact with the largely populated areas. I had lost all sense of direction and it was all I could do not to throw up on Clare, we were moving so fast. I still couldn't believe this was really the Clare my dad had known, that she had really survived. I wanted to ask her how, but couldn't workup the courage to say anything.

"We'll stop here for tonight."

"O-okay." I said, a little unnerved by her sudden coldness, but then I guess she has every right to distrust me. For all she knows I could be some kind of spy sent to find the last remaining warriors. "We should be there late tomorrow. So be ready to leave first thing in the morning." Then she walked off, leaving me alone by the hastily built fire. I was exhausted from the long day, but tried to stay awake until Clare got back, it was bad news for anyone, even yoma, to be found alone and asleep these days. Especially out in the wild like this. Leaning forward in a vain attempt to use the heat from the fire to stay awake, I heard a crunch and quickly darted out of the ring of firelight. It was just Clare. "We will be meeting up with my comrades in the morning." 'So that's where she went,' I thought, 'to make sure everything was set for our arrival.' Even as I thought that, a tiny voice in the back of my head whispered, '_or their ambush_.' 'No!' I shook my head. 'That won't happen. I know it won't.' Despite my brave words, I was still nervous the next morning while we were waiting for the others to arrive. _Clank_. The sound of a metal armored boot came from across the clearing where Clare and I had set up camp. "Hooked up with another kid, huh Clare?" A slightly mocking voice cut across the silence of the morning. "So, what happened to the other one?"

Clare started at the sound of the voice. "Helen! You're early. Are any of the others with you?" 'There's more!' I smiled and, feeling brave, decided to introduce myself. "Hello. I'm Teresa, Helen, right?" Suddenly Helen just burst out laughing. It was so unexpected I couldn't help but let out a little giggle. She was definitely one of a kind. "She's brave, too. Y'know, I think I might like you, kid." Still laughing, Helen turned to Clare and said, "Miria and Deneve stayed back at the camp with the others. It's just me and your old pal, Rubel." Clare looked totally shocked by this news, I was too really, this guy had to be another human. There weren't any male warriors.

"What?! Why's he with you? I thought the whole organization was slaughtered!" "Actually, he asked to come. Couldn't believe that the old 47 was still alive after the last war. Wanted to see you for himself I guess. Anyway, c'mon, we should head back now. The others'll worry if we don't show soon."

My head was spinning from all this. Everything that happened, it was all so fast. It felt like one second I was standing in the compound, wishing with all my heart I could be free. But even though I hadn't had time to really let everything sink in, I was amazingly happy. I had never been out side the fence before yesterday, and now I was with the warriors from my dad's stories! It was truly the happiest day of my life.

Still lost in thought, it took me a moment to register that our footsteps were echoing as if we were inside a cave. Glancing around, I noticed we were in a cave, a deep one too. I could see multiple tunnels branching off this first one, and the deep darkness behind that suggested even more tunnels and caverns. Ones I'd probably never get to see.

" Hey! Rubel! We're here!" Helen shouted from her position at the head of our little procession. At her words, a black hat popped up from behind a pile of rocks, also black. The effect was much like a ghost materializing and I started. Embarrassed, but glad I didn't squeak, I listed to their conversation.

"Took you long enough. So, what's the status report?" Rubel's voice was sort of rough, but not hoarse like he had a cough or anything, just rough, like he didn't use it that often.

"You know perfectly well that none of us report to you anymore. You're the one who should report to us, if anything."

"Hello, Rubel, it's been a while, has it not?" Clare's attitude was so icy; I think it froze me for a second. Much to my surprise, this Rubel character was utterly unaffected by it.

"Still so cold. And here I thought you missed me." There was a sarcastic edge to his voice that made it sound even rougher. I had to admire his bravery, talking to people who could kill him in an instant like that. Using that same cold tone, Clare replied in a way that told me she was familiar with this man's strange behavior.

"Actually, I was expecting you to be dead by now. Wasn't the entire organization destroyed?"

"If that were true, you wouldn't be here to say it, now would you?"

"You know I left before the war even-"

"Oh, really? Then why did you go to the north in the first place? If I remember correctly, you came back after our little _chat._ You agreed to go, on our orders, because,"

Helen had been standing there this whole time, looking more and more annoyed as the half argument went on. Finally, she burst out

"WILL YOU TWO _SHUTUP_ FOR _ONE _SECOND! We need to go, NOW. You know what'll happen if we're late, Clare."

"Yeah, sorry, let's go." With that the four of us walked on, deeper into the cave system. 'What? Why are we going deeper? Is their hideout in this cave? Why would they put it in here? It's way too easy to find. If a yoma was wondering out here, they could find it by complete accident! I thought these guys were – the floor disappeared from under my feet, and I was falling through the air, any sign of a scream ripped from my mouth by the lashing wind. Instinctively I managed to stay upright. Coming to a hard landing about 20m down from the cave floor level. 'so this is how they've managed to hide for this long. A catacomb below a catacomb. Very cool'

"We're here.


	3. Chapter 3: Seven

Seven

Seven

_Clank, clank, clank._ The sound of many boots on the rock floors of the cave came echoing out of the darkness of the tunnel before us. Slowly, six shadowed figures came to light. The first one was a warrior, as were the next four, the sixth one, however, remained in the shadows. They all had the characteristic color less faces, and similar black armor, as Clare did. The first one's hair was tied back in a kind of half ponytail, with some of her layered hair still framing her face, the second had hair so short she could have passed for a man, if it weren't for her eyes, the third had her hair in pigtails, wrapped towards the ends. The fourth had plain hair, with one long strand down the middle of her face. The last one had a long braid running down her back.

"Welcome back, Clare, Helen. Rubel, it's been a long time. It's great to see you all. Now, I see we have a new ally. May I ask your name?" the first warrior spoke, she had a nice voice, but one that carried an air of command. She was definitely the leader, a good one too.

"I'm Teresa."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Miria, and this is Deneve, Cynthia, Uma, Tabatha," One by one they all nodded as their names were called. Then, as Miria continued, Clare looked slightly confused, as if there shouldn't be anymore people there. "And the person standing all the way back there, is Raki." Shyly, the figure stepped forward, the joy on his rugged features turning to shock as he clearly saw the people in front of him for the first time.

"Father? Why are you here? We were all told you were, were dead!" I half whispered, afraid this was all a dream. A voice so small it was barely audible whispered, "Raki." Next to my ear. It was Clare. I looked at her, and found that the expression of indifference that had seemed so set in her face had vanished. She was crying. But they were tears of joy. I never really knew her so, I didn't think that emotion this strong even existed in her. I had never been so wrong.

Later that night, after everyone got caught up on what was happening, I was trying to sleep but I couldn't get what Raki ad said out of my head.

"Listen, Teresa, I have something I need to tell you. I'm not really your father." I had started to say something, to argue, but he cut me off. "Listen to me. I was going to tell you sooner, but when I saw an opportunity, I had to try and get out of there. I knew you'd understand that I had to leave, and I hoped that you would find a way out too." He looked down, "I'm so sorry."

"Then why did you even pretend to be my dad?! If you were just going to leave, why bother?!" I was shouting then. I still feel bad about what I said, but I do have a right to know.

"Your real parents were killed soon after you were born. That's why you don't remember them. I was alone then, and when I heard what happened, and that no one else was able to take you in, I offered to do it. I know you probably didn't want to hear this now, but please believe me when I say this at least. Your mother named you. She asked the midwife to name you Teresa." Well, this is just wonderful. In one day, I not only find out that I'm an orphan, but I'm living with a bunch of complete strangers. I wonder what Kyoko would say about this? Probably something like, 'how could you be so STUPID?! You should know better than to trust some random person, especially if they come from the other side!' I hope she's okay. Maybe I'll stop by for a visit one day, if either of us can live that long.


	4. Chapter 4: Warrior

Warrior

Warrior

One year later: I stepped out into the sunlight for the first time since I set foot in the caves behind me, or headquarters as I now think of them. I was surprised at how dull the world was. You'd think that after spending a whole year, or more, in a cave, that I'd appreciate the outside a little more. But then again, I'm not the same person I was back then.

Turning my head slightly, I glanced back just a bit to check that Clare was still coming. Surprisingly, she was being followed by someone else, Rubel. 'Why is he coming too? I thought two were enough here. Even if it wasn't, I doubted that he would be very helpful.

"I saw that. You're still acting like a human. You must trust your instincts!"

'oops!' I felt like a child being scolded. "Sorry" I said, not letting on how embarrassed I was for being caught in my mistake. Turning back to the woodland, I stopped for a moment, concentrating, I knew I felt something; it was faint, but definitely there. Maybe it was simply a passing yoma, or it could be something far more dangerous. I had no way to know. But being caught outside would be worse than anything, so I whispered to Clare, "Did you feel that?" She looked confused for a second, then she closed her eyes for a second, and said,

"It's an average yoma, but he's all the way on the other side of the valley. We don't need to worry yet. We're going the other way. And if he comes closer, Tabatha will know and she'll alert the others. Come on, we should go." With that we turned and ran off into the mountains above headquarters.

"Draw your sword." Clare reached back and gripped the hilt of her claymore sword. Hesitating slightly, I reached back and started to pull my own sword from its sheath. Quick as thinking, she flashed her sword out in front of me and, barely missing my neck, swept it in front of me saying, "Too slow. You can't afford to hesitate."

Steeling myself, I tried to copy what she just did, but I slipped and ended up catching my sword on the ground. To my surprise she started laughing. Not loudly or anything, just chuckling under her breath.

"Let's wait awhile before you try the wind-cutter. Right now you can barely hold your sword straight." Mortified, I lifted my sword back up and into its sheath, my eyes flicking over the green symbol, an X with two lines horizontal on the right and left. Sensing my embarrassment, she said,

"Don't worry, its going to be tough for you. Typically we use a little bit of our yoki to wield our swords, at least until we get the muscle to do it our selves, but because we can't afford to be detected, we all have learned to fully suppress our yoki. Eventually you'll lean to release your power without releasing your yoki, but for now, you can do things the old fashioned way. Now, as I said before. Draw your sword."

This time I reacted immediately. And to my surprise, she didn't use her wind-cutter. She simply drew her sword.

"Better. Now I'm attacking."

The second the last word left her mouth, Clare was on top of me, pressing me back down the slope. Luckily, my sword had been in a good position to ward her off, or did she pick her attack based on my defense? Anyway, I knew I was in trouble, because the edge of my sword was facing out, which meant that it was also facing me. Vainly, I tried to turn it, but with a single push, Clare turned the move against me and drove the blade into my chest. Screaming in pain, I barely heard what Clare had to say next,

"That was lesson #1. This is lesson #2. Try to heal that wound, releasing just enough power to regenerate, but here's the catch. You can't let you yoki grow out. At ALL."

Struggling to concentrate, I pushed though my pain and found the feeling that had been growing inside me. Instinctively I knew it was my yoki trying to heal my wound. Pushing against it with all my might, I felt the pain in my chest lessening, even as the surge of yoki calmed down. Confused, my hold relaxed for a minute, and the yoki slipped my control, almost breaking out. Quickly regaining my focus, I again pushed back and felt the energy recede. Moving one hand from my sword, I felt the place where I had been cut. It was perfectly smooth; the armor was torn, but no wound. Looking up, I saw Clare smiling.

"Good. You passed the first true test. But honestly, you had it easier than the rest of us. Nothing to unlearn." The sarcastic smile that crossed her face reminded me of the way Raki looked whenever someone was saying that we should be happy that the yoma don't just go around killing random people. He'd always tell them, he'd have that smile on and say, so it's better they do it systematically, just picking people from these little farms like cows to the slaughter?

Back then I had never understood what he had been saying, but now I think I was beginning to understand. And that was why I had to fight. If we could defeat Isley, then humans would at least have a fighting chance for survival. Raising my sword to a fighting stance, I waited for the next attack. Just as my arms were starting to get tired from holding the heavy claymore, Clare attacked again. Even more ferociously this time. I was hard put not to fall on my butt under the onslaught. Barely keeping her sword from hacking me to bits, I could feel myself getting tired. As I slipped into a sort of trance, reacting on instinct alone, I felt my yoki rising up against my mental barriers, trying to push out my full, deadly strength. "Stop!" Clare shouted right next to my face, breaking my trance-like state. As I pulled away, I felt something off about the air, even though no blood had been spilled this time, the whole area around us was tainted with the awful stench. Looking around, I tried to figure out where it was coming from. Slowly, it dawned on me. The scent came from my own body! But why did I smell so strongly of blood when I had not been wounded?

"Teresa! What were you thinking?! Your yoki was so strong I though a yoma was coming! What happened to your control?!" Clare was really yelling now. She was scared. Then again, so was I.

"Well? What was it?"

"I-I don't k-know." My hesitant reply was shaking. I knew only too well what would happen if any yoma had been in rage just then.

"We'll take a break now." Clare turned to face the forest below us. Grabbing my claymore, I protested,

"No! It's alright! I can keep going!" 'Is it just my imagination, or was that a smile?' Sighing, she closed her silver eyes and told me,

"Relax. Discipline is a balance of training and rest. Don't push yourself too hard. Or do you want to die?" Soundly mollified, I sat. Clare tossed me an apple from her pack.

"Did you have any training before?"

"Huh? Uhh, no. Well, I got into a lot of fights, but no one ever taught me anything."

There was a rather awkward silence for a while. Feeling better after eating, I stood up and Clare followed suit. "One more round, then we're done for the day." I nodded and had my hand ready to draw my sword, when she said,

"Let's change the rules a bit. I thought to teach you the basics without yoki, but if you never learn to release your power, you'll never learn to control it. But if I think you're pushing too far, I'm going to bring you back. And if I can't," She let her words hang in the air for a moment "Draw." Almost instantly this time, I flashed my sword out, my speed close to her non-wind-cutter speed. This time, I attacked first. Taking a slash at her left shoulder from above, letting gravity and a small amount yoki lend the blow power. Almost like she knew my move before I did, Clare casually blocked with perfect timing. Even a novice like myself could tell that much. I went on the defensive then, seeking an opening. Thinking I saw one, I lunged in, too close for Claymores. Shifting my grip to my left hand, I punched Clare solidly in the face. Stumbling back, she drew her sword back to reform her stance, it was in perfect position. I put my own sword up and twisted up and out with a deft flick of the wrist and sent her sword flying. Clearly not expecting this, Clare had loosened her grip and her claymore flew out of her grasp, landing firmly in the ground about 50m away. Wiping blood from her newly healed face, Clare said,

"Great. You have real potential. Maybe you should spar with Miria tomorrow."

Now I'm working on the story of how the orginization fell and Isley's take over, all that good stuff. Look forward to it! It might take longer than these chapters have, because for the basic after the war part, I want to try and stay as close to the true story as possible.

Don't forget to review!


	5. Chapter 5: after the war 1

After the War: 1

(Flash-back Clare's POV)

Dawn broke on a desolate scene. The ruins of Pieta outlined in the east, along with the newly dug graves of seventeen Claymores acting as sentinels. Silently the dead's comrades watched over them.

"We can't stay here. The organization will be sending others to investigate the aftermath." Miria's tone was cold, even for her. She probably still thought she should have had a better plan to defeat Isley's army. Almost as one, we all turned to the south. Tabatha was the one who spoke what was on all our minds. "A warrior is coming. One of the lower digits. Thankfully not a top five." You could almost feel the tension in the air disburse. At a signal we all shot off toward the western mountains.

Glancing over my shoulder, I recognized the warrior. It was Galatea. The organization's Eye. She stopped for a moment at the small grave memorial, then gave a small smile and started to return to the south. "Awakened Ones!" The call came from Helen this time, "They're coming in from the south." Most likely the remnants of Isley's army coming back for a victory party. But, no the yoki were too strong for that. That meant it had to be Isley himself. The others must have noticed it as well, for just when I was going to speak up, Miria gave a slight nod, and we all froze. Suppressing our yoki as much as was possible with the pills wearing off. Personally, I was glad to have the help. I was exhausted after our ferocious battle and didn't have the strength to manage on my own. Taking advantage of the halt to take a closer look at the damage from the battle, I could tell we never had a chance in hell of winning. Then again, I already knew that before we even started. The odds were unimaginable, that any of us survived is a miracle in its self. 24 Awakened Ones against 24 of us, one on one battles with creatures at least 10 times as strong as most of us. Never a chance in hell.

How did it get this bad?

Shuk! Miria's claymore sliced down on the small round object on the table. "Alright. I'm sure most of you will know what this is." Miria spoke to the silently waiting crowd.

"Half a yoki suppressant? What's that gonna do, huh?"

"Relax Undine, this is our escape. If we take these, when we lose consciousness the pill will suppress our yoki so it looks like we are dead." She sighed, "I'm not sure how effective this will be, but"

"We have a chance to survive. Pretty good. Sacrifice many to save a few, not half bad considering our situation." Undine stepped forward and picked up one of the pill halves. "Now, I don't know about you sissies, but I'll take any chance I got. I'm not ready to die just yet." With that Undine tossed the pill into her mouth and swallowed. There was almost no change in her yoki. So far, so good.

After we had confirmed that the preparations were complete, including the evacuation of the citizens of Pieta, we assembled at the center of town and waited for the yoma to come.

"I knew it. The size, the quality of their yoki. It's all so different…In the end, how many of us will survive?" Miria obviously didn't want anyone else to hear this, but since I was standing almost right next to her, I did. I'm sure the captains of the other squads, including Flora, my captain, had heard her. I was impressed at how none of them showed the slightest sign of fear, when the strongest among us, No. 6, phantom Miria, showed uncertainty, even fear.

The desperate battle to survive began. We were thoroughly out matched. Normally it would take at least two of us to take out an average Awakened One. Now some of us were fighting two or three at once, while the rest of us all had opponents of our own. One by one my comrades fell. We all fought desperately, but then Rigaldo the lion came. Known as the Silver-eyed Lion in his days as one of us, he was home to a power almost rivaling the abyssal ones. His yoki was so strong, it almost hurt just to be in its presence. With lighting speed he picked out and killed the five captains. First Undine, then Veronica, then Jean, Flora, and finally Miria. Helen, Deneve and I tried to protect her, but we were no match. Together we did manage to cause some damage, though. Miria took an arm while Deneve and Helen distracted him. Being an offensive type, he couldn't regenerate, and I managed to land a few hits with the quick-sword, but inevitably, we were all cut down. In the end we did survive, and Rigaldo did die, he was weakened and distracted, but it wouldn't bring the others back. Not Flora, or Victoria, or Jean, none of them.

"Clare! Quit spacing out! We need to keep moving!" Miria was calling from far ahead of me. 'Damn it! Why was I acting like such a fool? Me wishing for it isn't going to bring any of them back. I KNOW that, so –'

"CLARE! Come ON!" Giving myself a shake, I snapped back to reality and ran to catch-up. "You really are an idiot. Standing there with Isley like right next to you. Yeesh, and to think I thought you didn't deserve the rank 47."

"Shut up Helen. I'm really not in the mood for your stupidity." My voice was like ice, I knew it, but didn't try to change it. My hand tightened on my claymore, still out just in case.

"Woah! Lighten up! We survived didn't we? Or would you rather join the others in the graves?"

"Helen, don't take it personally. Not everyone can be as cheerful as you after being unable to help their friends." Deneve gently placed a hand on Helen's arm. Silently thanking her, I Practically leaped into the air when an explosion of yoki erupted from behind us, back in Pieta. Without even thinking, I ran back as fast as I could. I knew this yoki, it was definitely familiar. Recrossing the small mountain, Pieta came into view. The pressure from the yoki was almost tangible, pushing forward, I tried to make out who it was that was putting it out. Slowly, a woman's figure came into focus. It was Undine!

'Wow. I had no idea Undine could channel that much power without…' my thoughts trailed off as I was struck by a sudden realization. "UNDINE!" I screamed she turned toward me and as I got closer, I could see that Undine was desperately fighting against her out-of-control yoki. Deneve came shooting past me, and got to Undine first. I started forward again, but stopped when I realized Deneve was saying something. Feeling inexplicably like I was intruding on something private, I backed off to where the others were waiting.

"Hey, what the fuck are you sissies doing just standing there?! Are you gonna wait patiently for Isley and Pricilla to come back from their damn conquest?! Move your asses already!" The voice and attitude were unmistakable.

"Undine! Your alive!"

"Well obviously, I'm fuckin' talkin' to you bitches right?" 'Yup. That was definitely Undine.'

"Hey, when did you get your hands back? Weren't they cutoff?"

"Yeah. That Rigaldo bastard. I was sure as hell glad to see his corpse when I woke up. That was what the yoki was from. I've never had to reattach my limbs, so it took a lot of energy. Anyone got any food? I'm starving!" I was hungry too, so I looked to see if anyone had anything. Nothing, but that was to be expected.

"Helen? Why do you look so confused?" It was Miria that spoke this time, her calm voice bringing us back to reality.

"Didn't we bury 17? There were only 24 of us right? It doesn't add up." She was right. 17+825, not 24. We had an extra member and I had a good guess of who it was.

"Take a closer look at Undine. Doesn't something seem off? And how would anyone be able to release that much power with the side affects of the pill? Helen's right. None of it adds up. Unless," I shivered, at the consequences if what I thought was true.

"Unless, Undine isn't really Undine." Miria caught on right away, and quickly hid the horror that appeared on her face. One by one, Deneve, Uma, Tabatha, and Helen all turned to face Undine, hands on their swords. Quick as a flash, Miria attacked, but she only sliced air. "Above!" She yelled, just as an unimaginable explosion of yoki crashed down on us.

"This can't be real!" Helen shouted above the roar.

"It's Pricilla! That's why I thought it was familiar!" My heart was pounding impossibly hard, it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. "I finally found you –you- MONSTER!" I screeched and launched myself up against the crush of yoki, my eyes glowing gold, the yoki coursing through my veins quickly transforming my face. Then I was in the air, all thought of anything but getting my revenge vanished from my mind. The time had come for her to pay! I vaguely felt the sharp pain as my armor cracked from my distorted limbs. Mt yoki was running so wild, the quick-sword reached a new speed almost equal to Irene's. A sudden jerk threw me back down to earth where the others held me down. Even with Pricilla out of sight, I couldn't stop, I kept pushing, trying to shake them off. A sudden, intense explosion of pain in the back of my skull, followed closely by an unrelenting blackness, finally brought me to my senses.

This is what happened right after the War of the North. The manga didn't say anything about it so I got alot of my ideas from the anime. This took me a little longer to write because it was so long, I'm working on the next part of this now. At the latest it'll be up next saturday. I get the feeling i'm going to be busy.


	6. Chapter 6: after the war 2

I'm sorry this took so long! but here it is.

After the War: 2

"Pri-cill-a" I croaked as I struggled towards consciousness, "You… Will… Pay!" I screeched the last word, shooting to my feet, reaching for a sword that wasn't there. Instead of seeing the face of that monster, I saw six very angry looking faces, with flashing silver eyes. "What the hell?" I muttered, feeling really confused. Not to mention completely drained.

"Eat." Commanded Miria, "You've been unconscious for over a week." As she spoke, she tossed three apples into my lap.

"Huh? I was out for a whole week? Why? I didn't even fight."

"You IDIOT! You were unconscious that long because you almost awakened! If it wasn't for Miria pulling you back, you wouldn't be here right now! Really! How stupid do you get?! Charging off TO THE ENEMY, when you're barely at half power! You're lucky she didn't kill you the second you took to air!" Helen's tirade was cutoff by Miria,

" You really should be grateful, or do you value the life your comrades died for so little?" The familiarity of her words struck a chord in me. The last time something like this had happened, Irene. She said almost those same words. Looking down, I gently placed my hand on the right arm Irene gave me. 'I guess I'm still a fool.' Sighing, I began to eat.

Later that night, after everyone else was asleep, I walked a distance away from camp, just far enough so that I could sense them easily without them sensing me easily. Stepping out into the white light of the moon, I closed my eyes, and forced the constant presence that was my yoki down inside me as far as it could possibly go. I waited for that nagging voice to come back to taunt me again, but inside my head, all I heard were my own thoughts. Concentrating my will, I tried to do the quick-sword, but the second I tried to use it, the voice rose back up as strong as ever. Forcing it back down took more out of me than I expected. When I got back to camp, dawn was breaking and the others were stirring. A faint presence behind me caused me turn wheel around, and almost go crashing into a very pissed off Miria.

"Where the hell have you been?!" she screamed in my face. "When I noticed you were gone, I thought you had gone back to,"

"I just went for a walk. I couldn't sleep, okay? Now will you leave me alone?" I felt kind of bad for making her worry like that, but really! If she had gone out looking for me in the same direction I went, wouldn't she have felt my yoki? Or I hers? 'Who knows.' I thought, dejectedly. 'It's not like it matters. I didn't do anything.'

"Hey! Miria! You seen Clare? She wasn't around when I got up. Can't sense her either." That was Tabatha, she was probably best at long range yoki detection, just like I was best at pin-pointing the flow. 'Wonder why she can't sense me when I'm this close. Must be the pills, no, it's been over a week. The side affects should be gone by now. Oh well.' I shrugged. 'If Tabatha's having problems it's none of my business.'

"You can't sense her? She just came back a few minutes ago. But now that you mention it, I didn't notice her until I almost ran her over, weird." There was a long, heavy silence. Getting freaked out by the seriousness, I walked back over and said,

"Hi Tabatha, Miria. What's with the scary faces?" They really were scary. I didn't know what to think. It was like they had just seen something even worse than the end of the world. We had already seen that. "Hello? Are you guys okay? You both look awful."

"You. I can't feel your yoki. Why can't I feel it? Why, Clare?" Tabatha's voice was so hopeless, I decided to cut her some slack and be honest.

"Well, we're basically on the run now, right? No matter who's won, they're our enemies. Although it might be worse if the organization came out on top. Anyway, I was walking last night, and I had an idea. What if we could figure out a way to completely extinguish our yoki? Shove it down so deep inside of us that no trace gets out. I'm not talking like what Rafaella does, you can feel hers if you get close enough, I'm talking making it seem like we're just ordinary humans, even to Galetea. So, I decided to try an experiment. I tried to remember the feeling I get when I take those yoki-suppressant pills and then, I tried to recreate that feeling naturally. It was exhausting, but judging by your faces, and the fact that I can't hear the voice of my yoki in my head anymore, I think it worked. Right now, I could walk right up to the organization's door, and they would never be able to know who I am." Actually saying it, made it sound completely ridiculous, but somehow, I knew this was a good thing. It meant we didn't have to live in constant fear of being hunted down. "Unfortunately, I can't use my quick-sword when I'm like this, but I can always use a different technique," Waiting for a response, I felt like a total fool. How could I expect them to believe this?

"You did it. You actually did it. You whose come closer to awakening than any of us, managed to defeat your inner yoma."

Next chapter's the last flashback. old friends bring shocking news.


	7. Chapter 7: after the war 3

I got carried away finnishing the last chapter, so I ended up writing this too. hope you like it!

After the War: 3

Shock is the best word I can think of to describe the atmosphere just then. No one else had said a word, it was like they were waiting for something to break the silence.

"Maybe we should all try it. I-I mean, it would be a perfect way to hide. If they can't sense us, they won't know we're here, right?" Much to my surprise, it was Uma who spoke up. Even though we had long since parted with the rankings given to us by the organization, it was still hard for Uma. She had had the second lowest rank, and we hadn't known her before Pieta. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her, I knew how it felt to be an outsider.

"What do you mean, Uma?" questioned Miria, our unspoken leader.

"W-well, I thought if we could do like Clare and lock up our yoki in such a way that we could still use some of it if necessary, then it would be the perfect disguise. If the organization pulls through, they'll have our comrades out searching for us the second they notice the missing swords, if Isley comes out on top, then we'll be killed if they find us anyway. And an Abyssal One probably has a much longer range than any of us."

"So, how'd ya do it Clare?" Helen said, popping up beside me. "It'd be fun to wreak some havoc without that little snag." She giggled, "How about we all give i a try right now? What've we got to lose? Any words of wisdom Clare?"

"Just push." I said simply, not really knowing how else to put it. "You'll know if you've got it. Trust me."

Leaving them to that, I walked a short way into the woods to wait. Thinking back on the past few months, I couldn't get his face out of my head. "Where the devil are you, Raki?" I muttered. I had hoped to meet him again after the battle, but the way things are now that's going to be impossible for a while. Loathe to simply sit there, I did the only thing I could at the time. I kept lookout. Casting my senses as far as they would go, I hunted for any sign of yoki, starting when I realized that what had previously been steadily contained yoki was now jumping out erratically. They were having a tough time of it. From the feel of things, none of us would be able to use our original techniques. They all required releasing too much yoki. Helen's especially. Much like my quick-sword, it almost fully awakened the arm, while the rest of the body controls it, Miria's used bursts of yoki to her legs, so that won't work, Deneve obviously can't regenerate like that anymore either. We had a long road ahead of us.

I was dizzy for a moment when I suddenly felt a pull on my yoki, even buried as deep as it was. Only one could do that. Galetea. She must be close too. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't sense her. She must be as adept at hiding her yoki as she is at sensing others'.

"I wish I could say it was good to see you again, Clare." As always Galatea had her sarcastic smile on, but as I looked, I noticed something was different, she had a long scar running across her face; right over her eyes, or rather, over where her eyes should have been.

"Your eyes! What happened?" I exclaimed.

"Nothing really. It just happened, and I didn't regenerate. Thought it would be a perfect way to hide. They've been after me since I told them you dead. Looks like we're all in the same boat."

"Any news on the situation down south?" I asked, it would be critical that we knew what was going on before we made our move.

"It's over. Luciella of the South is dead, the organization put up a good fight, but it was just too well planned out. There's no way anyone can bring Isley and Pricilla down now. Our only hope before was to alliance with the other Abyssals, but without Luciella, it would still be hopeless. Even Isley alone would be difficult. He simply has too many followers." She sighed.

'This is terrible! True we don't have to worry about the organization, but now we might bring the entire yoma populace down on our heads!' "What happened to the organization?"

"Apparently they had a secret weapon ready, number 1, Alicia and 2 Beth. I was scoping out the situation, and I saw what their goal was all along. To make a warrior that could fully awaken, but still fight for them. From what I saw, Beth and Alicia were twins, and they had been trained so they could completely synchronize their yokis. Beth holds her sister's spirit back, while she defeats the enemy. Their power could kill Riful. They had just finished slaughtering the 15 Awakened Ones sent to the organization, when Pricilla showed up. She's a monster. I've never felt a yoki like that. She cut down Alicia like she was a human." I could tell Galatea was scared. I didn't know exactly how strong she was, but she was perfectly calm when Riful stopped Jean from killing Dauf back in the ruined castle, and I myself had felt a glimpse of Pricilla's power just a short while ago. It was easily above a high level Awakened One, when she wasn't even trying. I could only imagine her full prowess.

"Damnit! Why is it still so damn far?" I said, punching a hole right though a tree next to me. I heard footsteps sounding behind me and turned, coming face to face with Tabatha.

"We felt a strange presence and came to investigate. Care to introduce us, Clare?"

"This is Galatea. Formerly number 3, she helped me and Jean back before the war. Galatea, these are my friends: Tabatha, Miria, Helen, Deneve, Uma, and Cynthia."

"Nice to meet you all, but I'm afraid I come bearing bad news. The organization has fallen. The world as we know it is gone. Pricilla and Isley are in control. They are currently trying to hunt down the last of the warriors. I'm afraid that before long we will be all that is left of our kind." Everyone's reaction was different. Helen started freaking out in her usual way, Uma looked to be on the verge of tears, Miria simply stood there and, like the leader she was, calmly started reassuring everyone, her thought unreadable. Tabatha looked to be in shock. I couldn't say I blamed her. Deneve promptly slumped to the ground, clearly struggling to take in all the implications. Almost without a second thought, we all turned to Miria for guidance, but she was just as confused as the rest of us. Slowly, we all pulled ourselves together. Galatea had slipped off during the confusion.

"Alright. First things first, Seeing as all our techniques are now useless, we need to start learning some new ones. For now we all need some rest, so let's head back to camp. We start training in the morning."

Alright! ch.6 finished at last! the next chapter brings us out of the flashback sequence. Be prepared for a fight. the Claymores are finally going into action!


	8. Author's Note

A/N: I know anyone who's read the beginning of this it's been years since I've updated, but I'm doing a massive overhaul of the story. Rereading it so many times lately I've found so many things that just bother me, so with any luck I'll pull out a new first chapter this week. And I apologize profusely to anyone who saw this and thought 'Finally! A new chapter!'

While I'm in this process, I'm open to any sort of suggestion, except to keep Raki alive. Unfortunately it just doesn't work with my idea. So, I apologize again for being one of those writers who just drops a story. I don't plan on doing it again.


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